Fall 2007 Newsletter

The newsletter of Project STEP • Fall 2007
Major support from
The Boston Symphony
Orchestra
2006 – 2007 Season Highlights
projectSTEP
The New Governor’s
Inaugural Ball at the
Boston Convention
Center
The National Endowment
for the Arts
From ground breaking program to proud institution
Violinist Lynn Chang and cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing for the
main event with a student group which included our own Njeri
Grevious, violin (left of Lynn Chang) and Lauren Brown, viola
(right of Yo-Yo Ma).
Mariana Green-Hill, Project STEP alum and
faculty, playing the solo part in Vivaldi’s
Four Seasons.
Aurelie Theramene, violin, standing next to
the Inaugural cake and smiling.
“Students with worldclass potential can
get world-class
training from Project
STEP, which last
Sunday celebrated its
25th anniversary with
a gala performance at
Symphony Hall.”
Spring Recital,
Sunday, May 13, 2007
1st Year Violin Studio student Noah
Umberto Kelly looking serious as he
performs in his first STEP recital.
The New England
Conservatory
1st Year Violin Studio students Kerby
Louis Roberson and Alyssa Daly
playing a duo.
Fredrick J. Woodard, III playing
Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes
Brahms.
- Billy Baker,
Boston Globe,
June 17, 2007
Jordan Calixto performing on
the bass.
25 years
25th Anniversary Gala of projectSTEP
Grand Finale: 50 Project STEP students and alumni, with the Children’s Chorus of the Handel and Haydn Society and the Boston Children’s Chorus performing
Lift Every Voice and Sing in an arrangement by Julius P. Williams. Robert Honeysucker and Louise Toppin, above, were featured vocal soloists in a program that
included Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 with Marcus Thompson and Eugene Kim, Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, a Gershwin medley with Marylou
Speaker Churchill and Mariana Green, Negro spirituals, and works by Piazzolla and Schoenfeld performed by the renowned Eroica Trio.
Project STEP parent
Delores Handy Brown.
Project STEP Artistic Director William Thomas (left) on stage with
composer and arranger Julius P. Williams, tenor Robert Honeysucker,
and soprano Louise Toppin.
Project STEP Artistic Director William Thomas on
stage receiving flowers after the concert.
Lesley Wu Foley (left) and Goetz Eaton (center) with
Board Vice President Daniel Palant (right).
Project STEP students Kerby Louis Roberson, 1st Year Violin Studio, and Joel
Roches, 2nd Year Violin Studio during a dress rehearsal.
Project STEP studenLarenzo Gousby, cello (right)
with his mother Linda Gousby (left) having a good
time at the post-concert dinner.
Visit our website…
www.projectstep.org
projectSTEP
Symphony Hall
Project STEP Advisor William Moyer (center) with
his wife Betsy (left) and Tony Rymer, cello and
class of 07.
William Thomas
Ar tistic Director
The event’s featured guest artists, world renowned
Eroica Trio.
Mary S. Jaffee
Executive Director
Project STEP student Lauren Brown, viola, concentrating during a
dress rehearsal.
L to R: Parent Simeon Olapade with son Aaron, first year student in front;
Gwendoline Thornblade, and Wendy Miller Olapade holding Michael Roberson.
A Project STEP grandparent Lynn Duval Luse (left)
with the Mayor of Cambridge Ken Reeves (right).
Jennifer J. Lee
Development and
Program Coordinator
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 56916
Boston, MA 02115-4557
301 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Mark Churchill (left), Board Member and Dean of Preparatory and Continuing Education at New England Conservatory
with his wife and New England Conservatory faculty member Marylou Speaker Churchill and William Moyer who, in his
position with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was most instrumental in founding Project STEP.
(From left) Jackie Jenkins-Scott, Board member and President of Wheelock College; Margaret Williams-DeCelles,
Immediate Past President of the Board of Directors of STEP with guest Diane Lapon, Barbara Palant, and Board
Vice President Daniel Palant.
Photography by: JD Sloan, Louis H. Hamel, Jr., Stephen Saudek, and Janice Durham Newsletter Design: Kerr y Ann Hawkins
projectSTEP • Symphony Hall • 301 Massachusetts Avenue • Boston, MA 02115 • 617-267-5777 • www.projectstep.org
709641_Project_Step_NewsletterV22-3 2-3
9/10/07 4:16:47 PM
We Give a Standing Ovation
for Margaret Williams-DeCelles, who stepped down as President of the Board of
Directors of Project STEP on June 30th. Margaret’s exceptional wisdom, experience,
and warmth helped STEP navigate some of its most exciting and most challenging
times. She became President in 2004 when Arthur Kravitz resigned because of illness,
and her close association with him made that difficult transition appear effortless to
observers: Margaret worked closely with Arthur, and with each STEP constituent to
address and resolve the complexities inherent in the change. Later she oversaw the
searches for and transition to new Artistic and Executive Directors, and – along with
Randy Hiller – was acting Executive Director for four months.This past year, a critical
one for the program, Margaret was essential to the achievements of our Campaign
for the 25th, and the single most valuable person in the success of STEP’s 25th anniversary celebration at Symphony Hall.
“…Having a child in the program is a real commitment
because as a parent you are immersed in the
program from the very first lesson. You come to realize early that this is not a hobby or extra curricular activity but a serious
commitment to developing classical musicians of color. As a parent, I am truly grateful for the opportunities Project STEP has
provided my daughter and family to belong to a wonderful community of music makers. The many lessons that she continues
to learn through music (discipline, self confidence and hard work) will impact her life forever.”
- Wanda Smith, parent of Monique Smith
“…The
myriad of things to get done, the questions,
concerns, and scheduling difficulties, and always
making practicing a major part of the day – sometimes it was overwhelmingly tough to handle, but you know it’s worth it. You
see other kids at the other end of the program who were role models for my own kids, and you really know it’s worth it. So you
keep working at it, and Project STEP provides the line in the middle of the road, the guidance, support, and access that makes
We are in awe of what Margaret gets done in a day. With her husband Joe and daughter Caroline, parents to whom she travels frequently, and full time work, Margaret’s advocacy of STEP was relentless, forceful, and extraordinarily effective.
it all possible.”
- Cheri Robartes, mother of Tony and Marta Rymer-Robartes, both recent graduates of project STEP
We are most fortunate that Margaret will continue to be part of Project STEP and remain on our Board of Directors, to continue to
lend her insight and experience for the benefit of us all. We send her heartfelt appreciation for her great and inspiring leadership.
Bravo to our supporters!
Inspired by a generous bequest from the estate of Robert Maguire, Project STEP
launched its 25th anniversary campaign. In its first year the campaign has succeeded
far beyond our hopes and expectations.
An afternoon of music at the
home of Margaret Shepherd
and David Friend
Gifts have been made to fund all instruction for a Student Scholar each year in
perpetuity, and to annual costs to maintain the high quality of our current programs.
We honor each of the donors who has made our spectacular success possible.
Project STEP gratefully acknowledges the combined gifts, grants and pledges from the
following donors who, between July 1st 2006 and June 30, 2007 have given or pledged
a total of $1,225,000 in recognition of our 25th anniversary.
A new member of the STEP Board of Directors, Jessica
Margolin speaking with the event’s host David Friend.
Dear STEP Family,
I am delighted to have been elected to be
President of the Board of this wonderful
organization. At our 25th gala last spring,
I was struck by how much our students can
achieve with individual hard work, diligent
mentoring from older students and alumni,
and the caring attention of our faculty and staff. We indeed
have a unique organization that each and every one of us
should be extremely proud of.
During my tenure as President of the Board, I would like to
refocus our efforts on “the next 25 years.” How can we bring
all of our students to their full potential? How can we balance
the pressure of our highly demanding program with the understanding care and support that young children so critically
need? How can we publicize our program more effectively so
that everyone in and around Boston knows who we are and
what we do? These are a few of the issues I would like to
address during my tenure.
Of course, the success of Project STEP is due to the combined
efforts of students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, board members,
individual and organizational donors. Thank you all for your
incredibly hard work. STEP has achieved a tremendous amount
during its first 25 years. Now, let’s all focus on how we can
expand our achievements during the next 25 years.
Regards,
Randy Hiller
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(Left to Right) Holly Ambler, STEP Board Clerk Murphy Lewis,
STEP parent Cheri Robartes and Ben Jaffee in the audience
during musical presentation.
PROJECT STEP WELCOMES A NEW DIRECTOR:
JESSICA E. MARGOLIN, an associate in the Labor
& Employment practice group at Ropes & Gray, LLP.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Randall Hiller, President
Margaret Williams-DeCelles, Immediate past President
Gregory E. Bulger, Vice President
William “Mo” Cowan, Vice President
Dianne Luby, Vice President
Daniel I. Palant, Vice President
Goetz B. Eaton, Treasurer
Murphy Lewis, Clerk
Delores Handy Brown
Mark Churchill
André de Quadros
Jonathan Glionna
Rosebud Holland
Lynn G. Larsen
Mary Lincoln
Jessica E. Margolin
Wanda Smith
Marcus Thompson
Owen Young
ADVISORS
Alex Alvear
Barbara Berger
Nina L. Doggett
Thelma Goldberg
Patricia Krol
Barbara E. Maze
Rachel S. Moore
William Moyer
Joy Cline Phinney
Ann Hobson Pilot
Jackie Jenkins-Scott
Martha Batchelor Volpe
STAFF
William Thomas, Artistic Director
Mary S. Jaffee, Executive Director
Jennifer J. Lee, Development
and Program Coordinator
Virtuoso recognizes donors who
have given over $150,000.
Eleanor L. and Judge
Levin H. Campbell
Barbara N. Kravitz
The Estate of Robert Maguire
Concert Masters
(gifts of $50,000 to $150,000)
The National Endowment
for the Arts
Daniel and Susan Rothenberg
Principal Players
(gifts of $10,000 to $49,999)
ASAE
Charles H. Bond Charitable Trust
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Gregory E. Bulger Foundation
Cabot Family Charitable Trust
Nina and Eugene Doggett
Louis H. Hamel, Jr.
Dianne Luby
Music Drives Us
Harvard Musical Association
Massachusetts Cultural Council
New England Conservatory
Daniel I. and Barbara Palant
A.C. Ratshesky Foundation
Carl and Ruth Shapiro
Family Foundation
Stride Rite Foundation
Yawkey Foundation
Patrons
(gifts of $1,000 to $9,999)
Annonymous (1)
Diddy and John Cullinane
Barbara and Robert Berger
Jane C. Bradley
Delores Handy Brown
Suki and Muguel de Bragança
Goetz Eaton
Thelma and Ray Goldberg
Ruth Hertz
Randall and Elaine Hiller
Jackie Jenkins-Scott
Sherry and Ralph Jones
Susan Kaplan and the Kaplan
Foundation
Mary and Robert Lincoln
Edward and Joyce Linde
August and Henrietta Meyer
Ruth Anne Moyer
Peggy Pearson
Jason Price
William and Kathleen Rousseau
John C. Rutherford
Elizabeth K. Saudek
Epp Sonin
Marcus Thompson
John and Samantha Williams
Margaret Williams-DeCelles
Supporters
(gifts up to $999)
Joseph and Roselyn Ablow
Patricia Adams
Sharon Adams
Corinne and Gerald Adler
Elizabeth and Leo Algeo
Helen and William Allison
Joseph Alpers
Holly and David Ambler
Annonymous (2)
David and Dorothy Arnold
Elizabeth and Elisha Atkins
Bernice Auslander
Diane Austin
Natasha Azank
Martha Babcock and Harvey Seigel
Emily Huntington Bailey
Sandra Bakalar
James and Michelle Banker
Emily Barclay and John Hawes
James Barron and
Marjorie Arons-Barron
Ronald P. Barron
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel H. Bathon
Molly and John Beard
Michael and Cynthia Benn
Dr. Gabrielle Bercy
Arnis Berger
Daniel and Marge Bernstein
George and Roberta Berry
Nancy Bidlack
Marjory Blacher
Pamela Blau
Taylor S. Bodman
Margaret Bonney
Beverly and Collis Bostic
Nicolas Boullet
Jane C. Bradley
Katherine Brobeck
Peter and Anne Brooke
Yvonne Brooks
Melinda Brown
Michael and Susan Brown
Paul Buddenhagen
Philip Budne
George Bulger
Elizabeth and Franklin Bunn
Marshall Burlingame and Aline Benoit
Susan Okie Bush
Catherine and Paul Buttenwiesser
Ann S. Buxbaum
John G.L. Cabot
John Campbell and Susanna Peyton
Lynn Chang and Lisa Wong
Mark and Marylou Speaker Churchill
Nancy Cirillo and Matt Ruggerio
John F. Cogan, Jr.
Sarah J. Cohen
Carolyn Colby
Jill Coleman
Loring and Katrinka Coleman
Eric Collins
J. Linzee and Elizabeth Coolidge
Anne Covert
Audrey and Herman Creary
Bruce and Susan Creditor
Charles and Ada Creighton
Leigh M. Creighton
Nancy and Modestino Criscitiello
Robert A. Cunningham
Joan P. and Robert C. Curhan
Ruth M. Curwen
David Cutright and Julie Ramsey
Gene D. Dahmen
Tony Rymer with Barbara Kravitz. Tony was named
the first Kravitz Scholar.
Robert and Alice Daisy
Belden and Pamela Daniels
Elizabeth Davis
Beatrice de Lalla
Deloitte
John Devine
Morris and Lisa Diamont
Randolph Diggs and
Stephanie Harriston
Eleanor Donaldson
Elizabeth Donaldson
Catharine-Mary Donovan
Paula Doress-Worters
Peggy Elliott
Russell and Tracy Miller
Franklin and Sherrie Epstein
Herbert Epstein
Harriet A. Feinberg
Elizabeth Floyd
Jennifer Flynn
Lawrence and Marjorie Franko
Florence Freed
Wendy J. Frosh
Henry L. Fulton
Marion Gardner-Saxe
Thomas and Anne-Marie Gauger
Russell Gershman and Katherine Ives
Marvin Gilmore
Serena Gibson
Robert Gittens
Jonathan L. and Megan Glionna
The Goldberg Family Foundation
Charles and Sara Goldberg
Jordan Golding
Margot Goodwin
Sondra Gotkin
Nadja B. Gould
William and Carolyn Grace
Frederick and Donna Greatorex
Joan L. Griscom
Johanna Gunther
Robert Hagopian and John Miller
Susan Halby
Unae K. Han
Patricia Hanson
Juanita Hardrick
B.A. Harris
Sol and Carol Hartman
Deborah Hauser
Rebecca and Richard Hawkins
J.C. Hayward
The Heath Family Foundation
Patrick and Lorell Hernandez
Phyllis and Charles Hersch
Roy Hertzfelder
Doris and Howard Hiatt
Paul and Jennifer Hickman
Debra J. Hilbert
Edwin and Mary Hiller
Eloise Hodges
Carol Hofmann
Rosebud Holland
Kenneth and Mary Holmes
David Horton
Wen Huang
Charles Hubbard, II
Louise Huddleston
Alice W. and Jerome Hunsaker
Derek Huntington
M. Susan T. Ikeda
Mary and Ben Jaffee
Dolores E. Johnson
Marjory P. Johnson
Sherry Jones
Joyce Kilmer School
Edna and Bela Kalman
L to R: Bert Serwitz; Joyce Serwitz, Campaign
Consultant; Mary Jaffee, Executive Director; Dan
Palant, Vice President.
Ann R. Karnovsky
Amalie Kass
Kaufman Hall
Richard and Muriel Kaye
Mary E. Keith
Robert and Frances Keith
Joan Kerzner
Judith Kidd
George Kidder
Pamela and Crawford Kirkpatrick
Naomi Krasner
Peter Kreisky and Denise Grenier
Farla Krentzman
Patricia Krol
Catherine Krupnick
Arvind Kumar
Diane Lapon
Eldon, Robert and Ronald Lafever
Jasper Lawson
Jennifer Lee
R. Willis and Barbara Leith
Clara Lennox
Constance Levine
George and Karen Levy
Murphy Lewis
Mary and Robert Lincoln
Leila H. Little
Lenore Zug Lobel
Keith and Marilyn Lockhart
Robert and Gwyneth Loud
Elisabeth H. Loukas
Louise and Bernard Lown
Betty S. Lykins
Jane Lyman
Carla E. Lynton
Daniel Malis
Marion F. Mandell
Barbara S. and John Marden
Michael K. Marshall
Mary Martin
Rachel and Joseph Martin
James Mashburn
Robert and Jane Mayer
William McClennan
Louise H. McClennan
Marjorie McDonald
Gerald and Dorothy McDowell
Kenneth and Margaret McIntosh
Carol Menkiti
Ndidi Menkiti
Ellen Messing
Gael R. Minton
Paul Monsky and Beverly Woodward
Rachel S. Moore
The Morse Foundation
Alan and Cecily Morse
Clare and Richard Morse
Ellen Moyer
William and Betsy Moyer
Paul and Kathy Moyer
Mary Newman
Joan Nissman and Morton Abromson
Judith Norsigian
Diana Nugent
Brian and Lindsay O’Donovan
Robert Olson
Harry and Fran Ostrander
David Pap
Lucy Parker
Clarie Pearmain
Ava Bry Penman
Elisa Pepe
Guido Perera
David M. Perlman
E. Lee Perry
James and Penelope Peters
Ann M. Philbin
May H. Pierce
Mary and John Pike
Ann Hobson Pilot
Prentice Pilot
Vincent and Barbara Pisegna
Mr. and Mrs. William Poorvu
Harold Pratt
Katherine Preston
John Procter
Maria K. Pulzetti
The Rabb Charitable Foundation
Rose and David Raduziner
Ronald K. Raines
Peter and Suzanne Read
Henry and Susan Reeder
Jennifer Regan
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Remis
Donna Riccardi
Jonathan and Dorothy Richardson
Anne Righter
Dana Robbat
Robert Maguire
Lorraine Rossi
Samuel and Phyllis Rubinovitz
Lois C. Russell
Janet Rustow
Rutman’s Violins
Conall Ryan
Stephen Saudek and Janice Durham
Richard and Mary Scott
David Scudder
Joyce and Bert Serwitz
Surendra Shah and Alice Denormandie
Rebecca Shahmoon
Jean Adams Shaw
Luna In Ching Shyr
Jay and Ellen Sklar
Gilda and Alfred Slifka
Fenwick Smith
Maurice Smith
Philip Smith
Wanda Smith
Steven Snider
Harriet H. Spagnoli
Robert and Edith Sperber
Mary G. Spindler
David and Pat Squire
Anne St. Goar
Emilie D. Steele
Lee Stephecher
Marylen Sternweiler
Agathi Stratis
Alan and Marjorie Strauss
Deniss and Claudia Struble
Anne Talbot
Rhoda Taschioglou
James L. and Maude Terry
William and Karen Thomas
Lawrence and Dorothy Thompson
Gwendoline Thornblade
John and Dorothy Thorndike
David Tierney
Sophia M. Vilker
Elizabeth W. Vorenberg
Janice Walker
Christine Watson
Steven and Stephanie Weiss
Ray Wellbaum and Karen Campbell
Constance White
Lois and Alan Whitney
John Winslow
Richard J. Wurtman
Owen Young
Jolee and Mark Zola
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